


Fate and Chocolate. Because I Love You. Okay?!

by piresntsukino



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: F/M, Magic AU, body switch, love potion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-08-31
Packaged: 2018-04-18 08:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4698989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piresntsukino/pseuds/piresntsukino





	1. The Chocolate Curse

"So, let me get this straight..." Kogami trailed off, looking at the energetic ginger in front of him. "Earlier this morning, you received a new charm, just the one, off a random donation. You didn't see the donor's face, since they were wearing a hood, so you have absolutely no way of telling if the charm is harmless or not..." He rolled his eyes. " _And you're still going to try it_."

"It's got the word chocolate in it, how bad can it be?" Kagari shrugged. "Besides, if this thing is a good charm, I can sell it in my shop!"

"Your shop is the only thing keeping us in business," Kogami muttered darkly.

"Come on Ko, the way people use the stuff they buy can't be traced back to me," he smirked. "And what could go wrong? I have two of the strongest Anti-Hex Wizards in the city right in front of me. Look, it turns things to chocolate, it can't be that harmful!"

"We once dealt with a charm which had the word 'kittens' in it, Kagari," Akane sighed. "The poor man who cast it had already thrown up ten kittens by the time we got there."

"This seriously can't be part of your 'serial curser' case," Kagari laughed. Since he ran a popular magical joke shop, he didn't take much seriously, or think about the consequences of the charms he cast, unlike Kogami and Akane, who ran an anti-hex company alongside two others, a man named Ginoza and his father. They were famous in the city as being the most talented and effective when dealing with curses of all shapes and forms, and it was still a mystery as how the two anti-curse wizards were close friends with a man who made his living off selling minor and harmless curses. "You guys are just paranoid! Anyways, here goes nothin'!"

"Kagari, wait!" Akane yelled out and then stopped. It could be dangerous to disturb a spell; she'd learned that when she'd ran into Kogami halfway during a Transport spell, and she had to spend 40 minutes trying to track down his right hand side while his perplexed left hand side sat in the office, unable to do much.

"Take me, shake me," he shook the chocolate square before finishing the charm. "And I will make thee, Quetzalcoatl's Tchocolatl," he wrinkled his nose in distaste at the strange words. After a couple of seconds, nothing happened. "Aww, dammit! He ripped me off! I paid 300 gold for this-"

He cut off suddenly, catching the other two by surprise. When they finally caught sight of him, their mouths fell open, and Kogami was the first to sigh in exasperation. "Dammit, Kagari, it's my day off." Kagari, renowned joke-shop owner, was now made entirely of chocolate, his face frozen in a tasty looking scowl. Akane shook her head and quickly cast a Reversion charm, which would have usually resolved the problem. However, Kagari stayed as still as a statue made of chocolate, which was now essentially what he had become.

"Um, Kogami?" Akane piped up. "The Reversion spell isn't working."

"What? Nah, let me try, I'm sure it'll work," Kogami tried to sound calm and collected, and cast his own Reversion spell. "Well, that is... That is not good."

"Especially not good, considering it's the hottest day of the year," Akane agreed. "We should probably refrigerate him, or keep him cool." She quickly froze the room and shivered, buttoning her jacket. She quickly made the shop sign announce to any passers by that the shop was closed, but since the thing had a mind of its own, it just screamed, 'PISS OFF!' anyone who tried to enter. Akane was too occupied by the chocolate Kagari to bother scolding the sign. "Why don't we call Mr. Masaoka or Mr. Ginoza?"

"Yeah, and tell them that Kagari managed to curse himself whilst two anti-curse wizards stood not five feet away from him?" Kogami arched his eyebrow. "I say we fix Kagari, make him pay us, and keep it on the downlow from the other two."

"Sounds like a plan," Akane nodded. "Just one small problem with that plan."

"Oh?"

" _How do we 'fix' Kagari_?" She hissed. "It's not your everyday curse..."

"Nah, it's blocking all of my anti-hex spells, which is incredibly rare. As in non-existent." Kogami rubbed his black hair. "I get that we've seen some shit in the years we've been working together, but none that blocks anti-hex spells."

"He's started melting," Akane pointed out. "I'm going to have to deep Freeze the entire building."

"That's going to mess up his stuff," Kogami pointed out. "He'll get pissed."

"At least he'll be able to get pissed about something," Akane countered and Froze the entire building. "I'll have Candy search this up for us." Kogami groaned internally at the prospect of dealing with Akane's PA, a jellyfish they'd found washed up on the beach about two years back. Akane had saved the creature's life and made it sentient, and the thing insisted on being Akane's assistant. It could even hold a pen! "Summon Candy," she mumbled, and the Jellyfish crashed through the window not a second later.

"Hello, Akane!" It greeted her jovially. "Do you require my assistance?"

"Yes, please, Candy," she smiled. "Could you find any books that mention Quetzalcoatl's Tchocolatl?"

"Okay!" The jellyfish speed off again, and returned with about five books. "Nobuchika Ginoza would like to know why you're looking up that charm. Should I tell him that Shusei Kagari is currently made of chocolate?"

"No, god, no!" Akane snapped. "You know what Candy? Take the day off! Go to the beach!" The assistant needed not another order before it vanished. "Okay, start searching, Kogami!" Akane threw a few books at him.

Finally, they had all the books opened at the correct page after about 20 minutes. All of them told the pair the history of the charm, and the proper procedure- Kagari was meant to stick it on an object he wanted to turn to chocolate, but since he'd just held it in his hand, he had become the chocolate thing- yet there wasn't a single word on how to reverse the charm. And more worryingly, that the charm was semi-permanent if not cleared in the first twenty four hours. "We are so fucked," Kogami commented after Akane finished reading the last passage aloud. "We are so, so fucked."

"What should we do?"

"I say we eat him, or sell him, and just get rid of the evidence," he suggested weakly.

"Kogami, I am not eating my friend!" Akane snapped.

"Well if you don't want it, there are several starving people down the street who would absolutely love it," he replied dryly. "Relax, I'm joking. There's no way I'd ever eat Kagari. I'd feel like he was looking at me."

"Enough." Akane sighed. "If we track down the person who sold it to him, they might know!"

"It's worth a shot," Kogami nodded. "I'm going to go ahead and assume they touched the charm before handing it over, so I'll trace it." He scooped the charm up and closed his eyes. He stayed there for about five minutes, which was longer than usual. "I couldn't actually tell where they were, but I can see where they were. We'll need a Navigate." He closed his eyes again before quickly marching out the store. Akane followed, practically running to keep up.

"See you soon, Kagari!" She called as she closed the shop door.

"PISS OFF!" screamed the sign.

After half an hour of stiff marching/running, the two finally halted in a back alley; it didn't take a genius to figure out the one they'd been tracing had left. However, in their wake, they'd left a small pale pink envelope with their names on it. Kogami stepped forward first- if it turner out to be a malicious object, he would be the one who'd get hit. It turned out to be an uncharmed envelope, but the letter inside could be a different story.

_Your friend is naught but a Valentine's gift, but I understand that Kagaris are forever, not just for Valentines. In order to help your friend, you must deal with the problem as you would with every lover's hex._

Kogami sighed at the odd phrasing; like the vendor had tried to be mysterious and aloof and it hadn't really worked all that well. He silently passed it to Akane, who went bright red. "A lover's hex? So... That means we'll have to make a love potion then..." She went even brighter red.

"We'll look up the recipe," Kogami sighed. "Goddammit."

"I know it already," Akane blurted out.

"Why?" Kogami raised a suspicious eyebrow, but she just squeaked something incoherent in return, so he dropped the subject. "Okay then. What is it?"

Akane composed herself, and recited, "Three hearts of precious wild pink rose that under sun and starlight grows; three silver spoons of honey gold awakens power of old; Three silver spoons of brandy wine- you shall be mine, you shall be mine. You shall be mine till I you free; this is my will, so it shall be."

"So we need three pale pink roses that grow in the wild, six silver spoons, natural honey," (one never used store bought in potions- it was an abomination), "and some brandy wine. I can't believe we're putting a love potion on KAGARI, of all people."

The firm was always busy on Valentine's Day- either lovers hexed each other, or screwed up when making love potions, which usually lead to hate potions. Hence, on February the 13th, Akane took a day off to brew love potions for the business to use the next day. "Where are we meant to get the brandy wine?" Akane muttered. "We can't use store bought, that's a rookie mistake."

"Pops," Kogami replied. "We have to steal Pops' brandy."

"It was a gift from his wife!" Akane sounded stunned.

"And we might have to make a gift of Kagari," Kogami shot back.

"Ugh, fine, but only what we need- three spoonfuls!" She waggled her finger. "Okay, here's the plan. I will go and get the roses and the honey and you will go and get six CLEAN silver spoons and steal Mr. Masaoka's brandy which was a gift from his deceased wife, can I add."

"I'll see you at Kagari's shop in an hour," Kogami sighed.

Once they'd reconvened (Akane covered in scratches from the roses and stings from disgruntled bees, and Kogami with a black eye from an equally disgruntled Masaoka), they spread the things they needed on the floor around the scowling chocolate Kagari. Akane had found a bowl and added clean water, which was the staple of every good and effective potion. Nodding grimly, she began to chant the recipe and added the centres of the roses to the water, where they liquefied immediately and gave the liquid a pale pink shade. Next was the honey, which she dutifully poured into a separate spoon and tipped in with the rose centres, so the liquid was now pink with streaks of gold shimmering in the light when it caught it. Kogami was the one to tip in the little brandy he'd been allowed to take as Akane steadily carried on the chant.

Once it was done, she poured it in a relatively nondescript bottle, so if anyone saw her with it, she couldn't be teased. Besides she would never use a love potion- her eyes quickly flashed at Kogami's handsome face- well, she might use it. You know. As a joke. Yeah. A joke.

Kogami himself was also looking at the potion and to his attractive partner, and thinking the exact same. Maybe. Just maybe.

Akane stood up shakily and began to flick the potion on Kagari's face and hoped to whatever god ruled the crazy world of magic that it would work. What if it didn't, and the vendor was just screwing with them? That would mean they'd wasted their time!

"-piece of shit," Kagari finished his sentence, and then paused. "What's with you two? And why is it so cold in here?" A few seconds later. "Who the hell froze my shop?!"

"Guilty," Akane said quietly. "I'm sorry, Kagari, I just didn't want you to melt,"

"Okay, I get that it's a hot day and all, but humans can't melt, stupid," Kagari pouted.

"But chocolate can," Kogami in. "You turned yourself to chocolate, moron."

"I did? Aww, shit!" Kagari groaned. "Suppose that means I've failed my magic health and safety test with this thing."

"Yeah, don't sell that," Kogami advised his friend. "Give it to me, we'll dispose of it properly." Glumly, Kagari handed it over, and then spied the love potion.

"THAT'S WHAT FIXED ME?! A LOVE POTION?!" He sounded incredulous. "Look, I've seen some shit but seriously, a love potion? A fricking love potion?" He shrugged. "Ah well, I'll be taking that! I can sell it instead of chocolate charm!" With a sigh of his own, Kogami handed it over.

With hurried goodbyes, he and Akane left to sort out the 'malicious' chocolate charm, and make up some bullshit to Ginoza about why they had it. Kogami was usually very skilled in that area, while Akane usually gave the older man puppy eyes. Though Nobuchika Ginoza would never admit it, he had a soft spot in his heart for the youngest member of the anti-hex squad.

Shortly after they had left and Kagari had finally unFrozen his poor shop, he got in his first customer of the day, despite it being mid-afternoon. The customer was also a close friend of his, Kogami's and Akane's, so Kagari's defence was down when he saw him. It was also why Kagari sold him the love potion for 2000 Gold, no questions asked.


	2. It's You That I Love

**Day One-** A week following Akane had just settled down for the evening, curling up on her couch with a blanket, hot chocolate, and a book Kogami had lent her that she hadn't got around to yet. She was just about to start the book when she was interrupted by two loud bangs on her door. At first, she thought the door had been shot. Guns were incredibly rare- why use them when you had magic at your disposal?

Then there was the normal knocks, so she thought it was okay to edge towards the door and open it. Kogami fell on her floor and then tried to stagger to his feet. "My… head…" he croaked. Akane closed the door quickly and rushed to support him, since he didn't look at all steady- as if he was going to collapse at any given moment. She quickly helped him over to her couch and tucked the blanket over him. Calmly, she placed a hand on his flushed forehead- maybe he had a fever. He really did feel warm, so she scurried off and left Kogami groaning on the soft cushions. She quickly pulled an ice pack from the freezer, wrapped it in the tower and carried it to her new patient. Brushing back his hair to place the ice pack, but he grabbed her hand before she could even think about it. "Wait." Kogami croaked. "Don't take your hand away." He opened his eyes to stare at her. "Could you… keep doing that?"

Akane felt her face heat up, but she shook her head and told herself to just get on with it. That did little to subside her blush, but it stopped her literally melting right there and then because  _oh my god Kogami wants you to touc- stop it, Akane_! "Oh," she responded.  _Wow, you could have gone for anything, maybe a sweet sounding 'okay', or a seductive 'sure', but no, you go for 'oh'._ "Okay."  _Why do you do this to yourself, Akane, why?_

She put the ice pack on the coffee table next to her long-forgotten hot chocolate and book, and was about to perch herself somewhat awkwardly on the edge of the couch when a sudden pull on her hand made her land on it… and her patient. Said patient then curled his body and cuddled her close like a teddy bear, which was kind of adorable. "Akane," he muttered her name like it was his favourite thing to say. "I need you close to me, or I get really worried that something will happen to you." Akane felt the heat that was already in her cheeks increase tenfold and the rational part of her brain ceased to function and gave way to what could only be deciphered as internal screaming.

"Uh, Kogami…" Akane piped up after ten minutes. Her back was killing her- this sofa was not good for posture, she'd concluded. "If you go to my bed, it'll be a lot comfier there. I'll be alright, I'll sleep on this." When he didn't move, she realised that he had been incredibly weak. "Oh, right! I'll help you." He groaned when she yanked him rather inelegantly to his feet (where he nearly fell on top of her, but she was stronger than most gave her credit for). However, she was no match for Kogami when he could barely support himself, so she rolled her eyes and made him float behind her as she stalked promptly to her room. She really needed to have a guest room, she decided. When her female friends came around, she was content sharing a bed with them (even Shion, who tried to grab her ass or rack nine times out of ten). She then floated Kogami onto her bed and tucked him into bed. Giggling to herself, she thought that Kogami in this state reminded her of a toddler whose parents were looking after them. After gazing at him to make sure he'd fallen into a peaceful respite, she began to walk away when she found a hand wrapped around her wrist.

"Stay," he croaked, swallowed, and then remembered his manners. "Please."  _Just like a kid,_ Akane rolled her eyes in endearment. And then she realised what just that meant, and the rational and sarcastic part of her mind shut down. Stiffly, she sat down on the bed, and then swung her legs around so she was laid down next to him.

"Candy, could you turn the lights off and tidy the place up a bit?" Akane called on her jellyfish helper, who appeared, nodded, and whizzed off again. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms were cuddling around her again, clinging onto her for dear life. She had no idea what possessed her to do it, but she flipped around and wrapped her arms around him as well.

In fact, she thought being like that with another person, and not just the physical closeness, was actually kind of… nice.

 **Day Two -** The next morning, Akane briefly forgot the events of last night, so sat up and stretched her arms over her head. She made a quiet noise which sounded slightly like a kitten's first mewl, before the memories flooded back. "Huh?" she cast a bleary eye around. "Where did… Kogami go?"

She didn't have to ponder that for very long, because Kogami walked back in the room, chatting away to Candy, as if he was fully recovered. Akane was grateful to see he had recovered, but she was sure it wasn't normal for someone to be that okay after a fever like that. Or maybe he was drunk? No, he would have a hangover! She shook her head as a pleasant aroma drifted up to her nose, and she nearly squealed in delight. In his hands, Kogami was holding a tray with maple syrup drizzled pancakes and strawberries and cream flavoured tea- she'd know the smell anywhere! And it was also her favourite breakfast, and memories of her and her grandma came back. "Oh, you're awake," Kogami said, his expression neutral. He set it out in front of her, before doing a sort of mocking bow. "For you, your Majesty." That elicited a giggle from Akane, who all too happily dug into her meal. And then…

"Wait. How did you know I liked this?" she arched an eyebrow at Kogami, who had been watching her intently the entire time.

"I asked Candy," he motioned to the floating jellyfish.

"But you hate Candy," Akane pointed out.

"Well, we put aside our differences to make you a nice meal, Akane," he smiled warmly, but she could tell it was forced as he glared at the jellyfish who was glaring back with equal venom.

"Your health status is good today, Akane," Candy ignored Kogami and continued the daily spiel she said each day to Akane. "Today is also your day off, and Kogami has made dinner reservations for the both of you at eight o'clock this evening."

"Kogami…?" Akane stared questioningly at her partner.

"I wanted to take you out today," he admitted sheepishly.

"You have the whole day to yourself!" Candy agreed. "The weather is sunny with a ten per cent chance of rain. Should I suggest some activities?" Kogami had walked over to her whilst Candy wittered on, and without warning, leant down and pressed his lips to her forehead, and Akane could have sworn that her face could have started steaming. Just what was going on, anyway?! Why was he acting like this?!

"So would the glamourous woman in front of me care to have a day out with me?" Akane felt the blood drain from her face as she nodded- a day with Kogami did sound nice…

"You could go to the beach, there's a new shopping district opening up on the southern side that sells all sorts of magical goods- they're even offering flying carpet ride!" Candy suggested, all with the same unfaltering grin on her face. Akane quickly got ready, excited at this new, and slightly romantic Kogami.

That evening, after an amazing flying carpet ride (where Kogami had kept his arms securely around Akane's waist, terrified she would fall off because she kept trying to peer over the edge at the city sprawling beneath her), they had gone back to Akane's place, where she had gotten dressed in formal evening wear, and Kogami had magically summoned his suit from his wardrobe. When he saw Akane emerge from her room once more, he had blushed slightly, and said smoothly, without a single stammer or stutter, "You look beautiful." And then he added, "But on that note, you're beautiful all the time."

Akane was unaware of just what she and Kogami had gotten themselves into.

 **Day Three** – When she walked into her office the next day, her desk was flooded with chocolates and flowers, and all sorts of romantic crap she used to wrinkle her nose at when she was a child. Simply put, she just didn't know how to react. It was evident who they were from, since Kogami had come up behind her and hugged her, burying his face into her shoulder. This wasn't like Kogami- he never struck her as the overly affectionate type, but maybe he had no idea what couples did, or what you did for somebody you loved. Wait, were they a couple? She didn't know. He hadn't asked her, but maybe one day, he would. Kogami… as her boyfriend… what a nice thought.

But that left the question- just what was she going to do with all the stuff on her desk?!

And why, of all times, did Ginoza have to choose that specific moment to walk in with Kagari whilst she and Kogami were cuddling right up to each other behind all sorts of romantic gifts? Why? "Oho, Akane!" Kagari winked. "Nice going, girl! And Ko, you sly dog!" Akanne had leapt from Kogami's embrace and shifted awkwardly as she felt the two men stare at the both of them. Ginoza merely shifted his glasses up and said, rather haughtily:

"Well, Kogami, Tsunemori, as glad as I am to see you finally pursuing your romantic interests, may I remind you to do it outside of the work place?"

"What did you want to talk to us about anyway, Ginoza?" Akane regained her composure quicker than she would have expected herself to, but by some miracle, she did it.

"Oh, right. It's no biggie, but Kagari thinks his shop has been burgled- he's missing some stock and the culprit placed a forget charm on him." Akane put her head in her hands- could Kagari go a single day without something bad happening to him, dammit?! Next to her, Kogami looked so livid that she was certain he was going to punch the younger man in the face.

The rest of the day, Akane could have sworn Kogami was trying to kill him, but hey, she could have been imagining the whole thing. He was just angry since she knew he wanted to take her on a lunch time date, yet couldn't with Kagari being there.

 **Day Four –** Kogami finally got around to getting his long awaited lunch break, with no Kagari to ruin it. Akane had been avoiding Masaoka since that morning, when he'd asked Akane when he could be expecting grandchildren from her and Kogami, to which she had replied that they had only been dating for a couple of days. Hearing herself say that  _yes, she was dating Shinya Kogami_  made her slightly giddy and kind of excited, but Masaoka really annoyed her. Later, she'd heard that Kogami had argued with him for making her feel uncomfortable- apparently Kogami had nearly punched him, with Ginoza having to break up the fight and reprimanded his best friend with his recent aggressive behaviour towards the unfortunate joke shop owner that was Shusei Kagari, and now the wizened old wizard, Tomomi Masaoka. Kogami had grunted out an apology and sullenly left, before seeking out Akane, who he had hugged really hard and promised to not let anyone make her feel bad again.

At lunch, Kogami had scared their co-workers away before magically dimming the lights, and summoning sweet-scented candles to burn whilst they ate. He talked about all sorts, and she felt the memories of angry Kogami vanishing from her mind already. It seemed like he was back to normal. He had even bought her the most expensive dish the cafeteria offered, and the chef here was famed for their dishes. She graciously thanked him with a rather shy kiss on the cheek, unsure of whether she was overstepping her boundaries or not, but it turned out she wasn't. She felt much more relaxed after that. That was, until:

"About what Pops said before," he spoke up. "Would you ever consider it?"

Akane nearly spat out her drink in shock, and swallowed it quickly before coughing. In an attempt to not look like a complete idiot, she tried to mask her new hacking fit by sipping her drink almost thoughtfully, and once she was certain her breathing was back under her control. "Well, uh… maybe one day, I might. But it's too early to say right now." She smiled. "Actually, I never thought I'd have kids, but if I find the right person, then maybe."

 **Day Five -** Surprisingly, nothing of note happened during the day; well, that was a lie- Kogami was being as overly affectionate as always, and steadily smoking. He'd been doing that more frequently lately, she noted with some concern. She should probably talk to him about that, but she shrugged and went about her work. She went to go and visit Kagari and ask if he was remembering anything, yet it turned out he hadn't, so they were at another dead end. It was nice for Kogami to have accompanied her, and started making suggestions on what potions to use. She agreed and waved a cheery farewell to Kagari with promises to restore his memory.

"The poor guy can't catch a break," she commented as they collected ingredients.

"I don't know, what if he deserved it?" Kogami winked at her, joking around. "Maybe he decided to play a prank on the wrong guy,"

"Imagine if Kagari knew our serial curser," Akane joined in. "That would make life a whole lot easier, wouldn't it?" Then she paused. "Wait, Kogami! That's it!"

"You found something?" he asked her, peering at her.

"Kind of. It might be a lead, but, let's say, hypothetically, Kagari did know our curser. It would make sense, wouldn't it? If he did, then Kagari wouldn't have to guard himself against them, so he would be unaware that he'd been tricked, and like today, cursed." She knew there was something else, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She also knew that it had something to do with Kogami's new change in behaviour too- it was like his need to protect her from the serial curser had intensified tenfold.

But the event that stuck in mind occurred that night, after Akane and Kogami had brewed the potion which helped restore memories. Petting her head, Kogami had praised her potion-making skills and promised her that he would clean up the mess they'd caused whilst she herself went for a bath. She'd poured in some vanilla bubble bath and sunk into the warm water and relaxed, all the tension oozing out of her body. She allowed her mind to drift away from Kagari and Kogami's erratic new behaviour and just descend into bliss. That bliss was incredibly short lived. When she opened her eyes, Kogami was sat on the toilet seat looking at her.

"Kogami!" she yelped, covering herself with the bubbles. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted me to wash your back, since you can't reach it yourself," he laughed. At Akane's expression, he smirked. "Oh, it's okay, we don't have to do that, unless you want to. I just wanted to help you wash your back. And if you want, I'll throw in a shoulder massage, completely free of charge."

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Kogami," Akane sighed breezily. "But sure, fine, you can wash my back." After washing her back and massaging her shoulders, Akane felt as light as a feather and kind of sleepy. "Did you remember to send the potion to Kagari?" she muttered.

"Yeah, of course I did," he ruffled her hair.

"Kogami?" she yawned.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sleepy." Kogami politely turned around as she got changed, and without warning, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom.

 **Day Six –** _Hey, Akane, wake up!_ She heard Kagari's voice permeate her skull, snapping her out of the pleasant dream she was having, and briefly wondered why he had to use Projection (a spell which allowed magic users to communicate privately in their minds) and why he didn't bother just ringing her house phone. She shrugged, and decided to play along.

 _What is it, Kagari? It's… what time is it..? It's seven a.m!_ One's thoughts were unfiltered during a Projection, so each could hear what the other was thinking.

 _Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, shitty timing,_ he hissed back.  _I mean, uh, it's super important and it couldn't wait and Kogami can't overhear._

Akane shifted as if she was doing it in sleep, when in reality she was edging slightly away from Kogami.  _Kagari, what's up? Did you remember something? And why can't Kogami overhear?_

 _Well, uh, the good news is: I haven't been robbed. But, uh, I think I know why Ko is acting so weird._ Akane's eyes subconsciously flitted to the snoozing man next to her. He was right – as nice as it was to have him showering her in affection, it just didn't seem like a very Kogami thing to do. _But, uh, I'm missing the love potion you guys gave me. I sold it to someone for 2000 Gold and I think they may have spiked Kogami with it._

 _Love potion like that only lasts a short while, though – at maximum, a day, maybe two days. Love potions that I know of are only for short fixes. It's been_ _ **SIX**_ _._ She pointed out, and he fell silent for a bit. _Unless someone is finding a way to make him take it every day!_

_I'll leave this to you. I sell jokes, I don't investigate serial cursers. But seriously, look out for anyone spiking Kogami's drinks, or anything he's taking in, really. I've actually kind of told Old Man Masaoka about it too. You should go see him. We're meeting at my shop tomorrow._

**Day Seven -** Akane tiptoed out the apartment, leaving a note to explain she had got an emergency call from work and that she'd see him there. From there she Transported herself to Kagari's joke shop, where she was met with a tired looking Kagari, smiling Masaoka and stony-faced Ginoza. "Morning, little missy!" Masaoka greeted her, and she nodded in return.

"We have a situation on our hands, Tsunemori," Ginoza, as usual, wasted no time with introduction. "Someone is drugging Kogami every two days and he's completely unaware of it.  _How is that_?" There was an awkward silence in which all of them took turns to shrug, and Ginoza got more and more annoyed the longer it went on.

"Well, Kogami has been smoking an awful lot this week," Akane pointed out. "Maybe the cigarettes prolong the love potion's effects."

"Or, y'know," Kagari sniggered, "He could be getting' high  _off luuurve_ ," he poked his tongue out at Akane, and Ginoza's eyes widened.

"That's it- it's in his cigarettes! He is literally getting high off… luuurve…" he frowned at the final word before shaking himself. "We'll have to purge him and get rid of his cigarettes."

"If we touch his cigarettes, he's going to kill one of us," Masaoka pointed out. "But if it was the little missy, then maybe he'd let her off."

"You're just volunteering me to go and steal Kogami's cigarettes?!" Akane yelped.

"Your noble sacrifice shalt be remembered, Tsunemori Akane," Kagari mock bowed.

The door swung open, and there stood a relatively irritated Kogami. Scratch relatively irritated, murderously furious seemed more like it. Akane felt the soul leave her body, and watched as the blood drained out of everyone else's faces. "Just what… is going on…?" he growled.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you guys," Kagari waved. "I'll see you all in hell."

"Kagari. Not helping." Ginoza rolled his eyes. "Kogami, you've been… poisoned," he tried to find the right words to persuade Kogami. "We were all really worried, so we… were going to purge the poison… from your body… and to do that… we need… your cigarettes…" The demonic glower didn't subside from his face.

"Please, Shinya," Akane added, hoping that it was cute and innocent enough for love potion Kogami to tide over. Unsurprisingly, he did, and basically handed them to her. "Huh." She commented, as Kagari shot her a thumbs up. "Could you do as Mr. Ginoza asks as well?"

"Only if you're with me," he replied. Well, you've gotta learn to compromise, she thought to herself.

"She needs to be, anyway," Ginoza was already tired of this ridiculous situation already, and he hadn't even been directly involved in it like Akane had. "Tsunemori. Kogami. Please sit still inside the magic circle whilst I perform the purification."

"Why, because they've been getting dirty?" Kagari joked, earning a punch from Masaoka. "Ow! Screw you old man!"

"Kagari. Masaoka. You sit outside the circle and reinforce the barriers." Ginoza's word was final and that was that, so they all took their positions. Once the ritual had begun, Kogami and Akane were trapped inside the magic circle, a thin sheet of light ensuring the rest of the world couldn't see nor hear them.

"Hey, Akane," Kogami called over. "Thanks for this week. It's been great."

"Oh. You're welcome," she laughed nervously. "I had fun too, though. It's not like I disliked you when you were like this, but it's just…" she sighed softly to herself. "It's just that Kogami should take those feelings and show them to the one he really loves, not to me."

"I guess that's right," he replied. "But isn't it just a normal thing that when anyone falls in love, they will work their hardest to make their partner love them as well? It's no different for me."

"Well, that's just how it is, and how it should be," Akane laughed back. It was nice; she could feel Kogami returning to her.

"You're right," Kogami looked down with a little groan. "Ouch. I can actually feel myself being purified right now. Ouch."

"Are you alright?" Akane looked over in concern, but he'd stopped complaining.

"Hey, Akane…" Kogami spoke up finally. "Although this might be due to the love potion, you just have to know… Shinya Kogami really loves you. If this is going to be lifted soon, then I just wanted you to know in time. That… I love you."


	3. I art thou, Thou art me

_Shinya Kogami really loves you. I just wanted you to know in time. That… I love you._

Those words drifted through Akane's for the next two weeks, and she felt her face subconsciously flush whenever she thought of them coming from Kogami's mouth. Usually, she was incredibly good at hiding it from Kogami, and had been trying to brush the week off as a joke (since stupid Kagari hadn't stopped teasing the poor pair about it for  _two entire weeks_ ). But he soon forgot about it – yet Akane didn't. That week had been a brief and wondrous dream, and she had to get over it, yet a little part of her didn't want to, clinging onto memories of it.

Eventually, life was finally getting back to normal.

And Akane had to go and jinx it by realising that.

It had been precisely sixteen days since Kogami's confession when her world was turned upside down once more, in an even more embarrassing way. When her eyes opened, she immediately knew something was wrong, since she wasn't in her bedroom, where she'd obviously gone to sleep the night before. Had she been kidnapped? Had the serial curser figured she was on their tail? And if so, what had happened to Kogami? And Kagari, who always seemed to draw the short straw in this confusing mess? She shook her head, and told herself to get a grip. It seemed that she hadn't been tied down and was free to move. She spied a mirror propped in the corner of the room, so she decided to look in it to make sure she hadn't been injured. Saying that, she would be able to see it.

When she padded sleepily over to the mirror, she got a very, very rude awakening. The face staring back at her wasn't her own. She was currently staring into the face of Shinya Kogami. She moved her arm and watched his arm move as well.  _What?_ _ **What? WHAT**_?! She had little time to waste- looking down, she saw that she really was Shinya Kogami. As she was about to stalk out into the street to go and hunt down Ginoza, she realised all she/he/Kogami was wearing was a pair of boxers, so she closed her eyes and used magic to strip off and get changed. Though it had to be said she really, really was tempted to get dressed manually. Once the ordeal was over, she hurried out, locking the door behind her.

_**A little earlier before Akane's awakening,** _ _the actual, real Shinya Kogami woke up on red alert- he knew something was wrong, and couldn't put his finger on it. The first thing that he noticed was the fact he was laid on his side, wrapped in a rather heavy duvet – though it was being nitpicky, he hated duvets like that and preferred a thin blanket over them. Did he even own a duvet like this? The second thing he realised was that he wasn't wearing much at all. In fact, he wasn't wearing anything, which was weird for him, since he always wore underwear at the very least. And the third thing he noticed was that he was currently in Akane's bedroom. If he was naked… in Akane's room… then…_

_He tried to think back to the night before. He really didn't remember ever seeing Akane the night before, and he sure as hell didn't remember the two of them doing it, either. He flipped over to face the woman he really had liked since the day he met her… to find her strangely absent. Huh. "Akane?" he called out tentatively. In a voice that wasn't his own. What the hell? He sat up, rubbing his head, and found himself staring blearily into a mirror opposite the bed. And the naked top half of Akane Tsunemori. With a half-strangled cry of alarm, he wrapped himself in the covers and tried to push any form of dirty thoughts out of his head. Looking up, he summoned yesterday's clothes of hers and rushed straight to Ginoza._

" _Gino! I fucked up, big time!" he announced upon entering Ginoza's office._

" _Akane? It's not like you to swear. Or call me Gino, for that matter. What is wrong?" he glowered at the fake Akane._

" _I'm not Akane, dipshit! It's Kogami, and I don't know how this happened, but for some reason, I'm now fucking Akane!"_

" _It's about time," Ginoza responded breezily._

" _Oh, not like that!" he snapped in Akane's voice. "And since when do you make dirty jokes?!"_

She made a beeline to their office, and then straight to Ginoza's office. He was drinking tea rather calmly, and then Akane saw herself already sat at the desk. "Good morning, Akane," Ginoza said as she entered. "Yes, Kogami here has already explained the situation to me. Sit down." She sat down. Ginoza studied the both of them calmly, before suddenly exploding, "Can you idiots not go one month without something ridiculous happening to you?! Be more careful when investigating, you absolute fools!" He took a quiet breath and closed his eyes again, as if counting to ten. "Kogami and I have already attempted to reverse the curse, but it didn't do anything. It's more potent than we think. However, when we asked Masaoka, he said body switches like this don't last longer than a day. So my advice would be- shut up and put up."

There was a quiet knock at the door, and Kagari entered. "Yo, you guys," he managed to choke out, before melting into a giggling mess. "Pfahaha, Ko, you can technically say you've been inside Akane now!"

"Shut up, Kagari," said Kogami. Or Akane. Bah, this was confusing! "Why the hell is he here, Gino?!"

"Oh, he's going to babysitting you all day, since I can't be bothered dealing with you guys' shit anymore," he responded breezily. "Oh, don't look at me like that. He's looking after you so the damn thing doesn't become permanent." Now that would be worrying. And ever so slightly awkward.

"Heh-heh," Kagari piped up behind them. "What's with the worried look, kids? We're gonna have so much fun today!"

"Oh. Good. God." Akane made Kogami facepalm himself. "This just couldn't get any worse, could it?"

"Oh, believe me," Ginoza had now diverted his attention to a report, which he was lazily flicking through. "It could be. Like I said. Shut up and put up."

"Yes sir," the two switched people sighed, traipsing out the room after the hyperactive Kagari.

Kagari certainly was having his fun acting as their "caretaker", if he could even be classed as doing that. For lunch, he took them out for a picnic (admittedly, his cooking was fantastic, to the extent it rivalled that of Kogami's, and Akane was left to dwell on how mediocre her own was- perhaps she should ask Kogami to teach her once they'd caught the infamous serial curser). Naturally, he had to hold it in the city's windiest place, so Kogami-in-Akane's-body was forced to sit down with their hands holding Akane's skirt firmly down. Both of them knew full well that was no coincidence, and had eaten their lunches incredibly quickly, whilst Kagari ate his almost lazily, watching Akane-in-Kogami's-body get more and more flustered the more times the skirt on the physical Akane was whipped up by the wind.

"I'm going to punch him tomorrow," Kogami-in-Akane's body promised. "It may teach him a little bit of respect and decency, but who knows? It is Kagari we're talking about," he shrugged, and Akane-in-Kogami's body giggled. Kagari burst into another round of laughter.

"Oh my God, I don't think I've ever heard you giggle before, Ko," he managed to choke out once he'd stopped laughing. "I should have recorded that!"

After that, their babysitter took them back to his joke shop, but kept the place closed. "We're gonna play strip poker, you guys," he winked all-too-cheerfully at the hapless pair, one of whom was ready to commit homicide, the other sufficiently humiliated.

"There's no way I'm doing that, Kagari!" Akane-in-Kogami's-body protested. "What's in it for us, huh? I'm not doing this for the sake of you laughing at us again!"

"Okay, okay, fine," he waved his hands to calm the agitated couple down. "How about this? A couple of days ago, my memory was pretty much restored from the love potion incident- and nope, I haven't forgotten about that just yet!" he gave the pair a shit-eating grin, and next to her, Akane watched her own body tense like Kogami was about to throw several punches.  _Please don't. I'm hardly delicate but I don't think it will be that satisfying._  "Anyhoo, I might have remembered just who I sold that pesky love potion to- so here's the deal: you guys beat me in strip poker, and I'll tell you who." Akane and Kogami exchanged looks. "I mean, the odds aren't stacked in my favour- statistically, there's a thirty-three per cent chance I'll win. Whaddya say, kids?"

"Go die in a hole, but game on," Kogami-in-Akane's-body snapped. Kagari dealt the cards, enjoying his restless friends, getting wound up over a single card game. He was excellent at poker, especially strip poker- after all, he had been personally trained by Shion Karanomori, the city-famous gambler. He also knew that Kogami was pretty formidable when it came to stuff like this, but the real danger here was Akane. Not many knew it, but damn, could she play poker like a professional. It was just a rumour, but apparently Akane had beaten Shion the first time she ever played, much to the elder woman's annoyance- however, he knew Akane and Shion were like sisters, so maybe it was false. But Akane had beaten him several times over in the past.

The first round, surprisingly, Kogami won, so Kagari and Akane gracefully took off their jackets. The next few rounds, the winner varied, but eventually, it ended up with Kagari mostly naked, wearing naught but his underpants, and Kogami-in-Akane's body in Akane's undergarments and shorts, whilst Akane-in-Kogami's body still had Kogami's long black trousers on.  _Damn, she's really playing to win_ , Kagari thought, and then tacked on as an afterthought:  _Fuck. I've messed up. Big time. Shit! Time to get your game face on, Kagari!_ The next round, he won, so Akane dutifully peeled off Kogami's trousers and watched in horror as her shorts were taken off. All three of them were down to just their underwear now, except Akane-in-Kogami's-body still has Kogami's socks on her feet, so she had an extra life than Kogami-in-Akane's-body, who had two pieces of clothing before he was officially out of the game. Kagari was at the disadvantage, with only one piece of clothing until he lost.

Akane swallowed nervously. What if he had really good hands for the next two rounds? That would be all it took to make Kogami lose, and another one for her to lose as well. Oh, goddammit! No, she could play poker- she had beaten the famed Shion Karanomori several times before! The next round, there was visible tension in the air. Nobody wanted to lose. And then she saw it. She had a royal flush open to her.

She nearly jumped and yelled in joy as she smacked it down, and watched Kagari's eyes widen in horror. "Yes! We did it, Kogami!" she gave her partner a high-five as they all got dressed again. Both were staring at each other and grinning happily at the other.

"Oh my God, why don't you guys just go out already?!" Kagari whined as they all got dressed again. "C'mon, it's obvious you guys just want to jump each other, so do it already! I have a bet with Old Man Masaoka!"

"Like we care about your damn bet," Kogami-in-Akane's body glared at their babysitter-cum-tormentor.

"Anyway, 'fess up, Kagari!" Akane joined in. "Who did you sell the love potion to? Tell us!"

"Well, I said I might have done…" Kagari shifted uncomfortably under the glares of the two magic investigators. "Then again, I might not have…"

" **Kagari!** " they yelled in unison, lunging at the magical prankster, who tried in vain to dodge the incoming attacks.

Later, they were walking back to Akane's house- they'd decided to just stick together until the whole nasty ordeal was over. Akane had been mulling Kagari's words around and around in her brain, not being able to shut them out.  _Why don't you guys just go out already? C'mon, it's obvious you guys just want to jump each other, so do it already!_  "Hey, Akane," Kogami called over, so she turned around to face Kogami-in-her-body. "Hey, wait, why are you blushing?" He asked. "You're not sick, are you? Oh, wait a minute. Don't tell me you're still thinking about what Kagari said back then about us."

"Don't blurt out such ridiculous things, Kogami!" Akane tried to sniff at his suggestion and pass it off, albeit failing very badly. That had triggered a new flood of memories from the love potion incident and she found herself going redder. She wondered what a really embarrassed Kogami looked like, since she couldn't actually tell.

"It's not like I mind though," he said. "Being Akane's boyfriend."

It took Akane about a minute to process what he had just said, and the only word she could manage to say was, "Huh?" And then, "Huh?!"

But Kogami just smiled and walked ahead.


	4. The Family Formed By Cupid

A loud knocking on the door finally woke Akane Tsunemori up, a week after she had finally regained her body back, and Kogami's sort of confession. He hadn't said much to her after that about it, and she was in no place to talk about it. When she did, words failed her, no matter what she wanted to say. But she did want to tell him. One day, she really would tell him how she felt. But today, and for the foreseeable future, was not the day.

The first thing she saw when she opened the door was Kogami, looking very grumpy and tired, and almost straight away, the little girl clutching to his legs. She was positively tiny, at around five years old. Her auburn hair was tied in two long pigtails which reached her shoulders, and her eyes, which were grey, were especially shiny as she peered up at Akane. "Come in," she sighed.

"I got hexed again," Kogami explained briefly.

"Hexed how?" Akane asked; in reply, he indicated to the little girl. Said girl looked very confused and shy, so Akane crouched down so she was on her level. "Hey. What's your name? I'm Akane."

"Um… Daddy hasn't given me a name yet," she sounded grumpy and a little saddened.

"Really? Where can we find Daddy, so he can give you one?" Akane prompted gently.

"But Daddy's right here," the girl pointed out, jabbing a finger into Kogami's leg. Akane just didn't know how to respond to that. "Maybe Mommy might give me a name?"

"And where's Mommy?"Akane tried again- perhaps this mystery mother of this girl's was a link to their curser.

"Huh? Why are you asking that?" the girl tilted her head. "You're Mommy."

"Oh." Akane found that her words had failed her again. "Well… would you like a name..?" The girl nodded eagerly, and Akane glanced up at Kogami, who nodded as if to say  _Go ahead, it's your choice._ "What about Mayu?"

"Ma…yu…" the girl muttered, before breaking out into a happy smile. "I really love it!"

"Well, Mayu, are you hungry or thirsty?" Akane asked. Mayu nodded, a little sheepishly, so Akane glanced up at Kogami. "Well, then, get to it, Dad!" she winked playfully at him, and he exhaled loudly through his nose.

"Okay, fine. What would you like, Mayu?" Kogami asked, a gentleness in his voice that Akane had never witnessed before. "Shall I make some pasta?"

"Yup!" Mayu agreed.

"Well, then, you stay here, and me and Mommy will go and make it, okay?" he petted her brown locks before lifting her onto the sofa, and quickly whisked Akane away. Once they were in the kitchen, Kogami turned around. "Do you see my little problem here, Akane? I'm not saying that Mayu is a problem, it's nice having her around, but this serial curser guy targeted a kid, Akane. A kid. I've had her for three days. Her parents must be shitting it."

"It's really messed up," she balled her fists. "The sooner we get Mayu back to her real parents, the better."

"Ah, what wonderful timing," a voice spoke up from behind them. Nobuchika Ginoza, who seemed to be slightly ruffled, had seemingly Transported into Akane's kitchen. Kogami shook his head and continued making preparations for feeding Mayu. "How has the girl been, Kogami?"

"Akane's called her Mayu," Kogami informed him.

"Using the symbol for cocoon, and not eyebrow, I hope," Ginoza made a half-smile. "Well, I have some… news for you both." He took a deep breath. "Biologically speaking, Mayu… Kogami… is your child. Both of yours. It's undeniable. Masaoka believes it to be the handiwork of the curser again. It is possible to craft children of two people if you have their DNA. It's also possible to make people switch bodies with DNA samples as well. The two cases are undeniably connected."

"Daddy?" Mayu was stood in the doorway.

"Yeah?" Kogami looked up.

"Can I help you and Mommy cook? It's boring in there. I wanna be with Mommy and Daddy!" Mayu shifted uncomfortable. "Uncle Gino!"

"Uh… Hello again, Mayu…?" Ginoza waved at the girl, who had flung her arms around his legs, happily chanting 'Uncle Gino! Uncle Gino!' "Well, what do you think of… uh… Mommy?" Akane had never seen Ginoza this flustered- she'd put it down to inexperience with children.

"Mommy is my favourite!" Mayu chirped up, and Akane could have sworn Kogami looked ever so slightly jealous, which made her giggle. Maybe having Mayu around wouldn't be so terrible.

That evening, after Mayu had started yawning, Akane had let Kogami take Mayu to bed, telling her a story, and much later, she overheard soft singing and she was so tempted to burst in and throw her arms around him. But she didn't, and opted to softly walking in and kissing Mayu's forehead. "Love you, Mommy. Love you, Daddy," Mayu mumbled sleepily before nodding off.

In the lounge, she and Kogami flopped on the sofa- surprisingly, looking after a small child was exhausting work. Even more exhausting than chasing a serial curser halfway across the city to bring him to justice. "Today was kind of fun. Kind of weird. We have a kid," Akane managed to say, still unable to process that fact.

"I'm happy," Kogami said simply. "Promise you won't punch me?"

"Uh… Promise?" Akane frowned. What was he going to say?

He wasn't going to say anything, and in fact, all he did was lean over and catch her lips in his. They stayed like that for a long while, neither wanting to move away from the other. Just grateful to have this unforced opportunity. "Can you… stay with me from now on?"

"Yes, of course I will," Akane replied, returning his embrace. "But I have to ask, why me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kogami laughed, a bittersweet noise. "Because like I told you before. Shinya Kogami loves Akane Tsunemori. And always will."

"And Akane Tsunemori will always love Shinya Kogami, too," Akane whispered back. "Maybe the serial curser isn't so bad. Maybe they've wanted us to be together all along. But that's silly, isn't it?"

_Akane, as usual, was right on the money, though she, nor Shinya Kogami could have predicted the serial curser was currently sat in a tree outside Akane's house, a pair of binoculars pressed to his nose. "Oh, fucking yes!" he whispered in joy to himself. "Finally! I thought they never would!"_

* * *

_The two months had been hell for the serial curser. Not because the police were on his tail, oh no- because he was trying to make his dumbass best friend realise how ridiculously in love with Akane Tsunemori he was. So, he had to set them up- it was his role as the sommelier of love. Yes, Mitsuru Sasayama fancied himself as a cupid-in-the-making._

_The first step had been getting Akane to make a love potion. Though love potions were effective so long as the person was talking to or about the person, it was doubly so if the potion was brewed by the person who you wanted the target to fall in love with. Hence, he sold Shusei Kagari a charm with misdirections on how to use it, and then left clues for his two best friends. He thought that he would have to steal it from them, but found that Kagari had the intention to sell it, so bought it for 2000 Gold- an absolute rip off, but it would be worth it. He would make it worth it._

_Then came the tricky part- actually getting Kogami to take the potion on a regular basis. However, he'd already predicted this, so invited his grumpy best friend around, and listened to him complain about Kagari's chocolate predicament. And what came after stressful experiences? Smoking, and lots of. Before Kogami had chance to draw his cigarettes from his pocket, Sasayama conveniently fell with a loud, "Oh, fuck!" and throwing his drink over Kogami's cigarettes._

" _Ah, shit, Kogami! I'm so sorry!" he apologised. "I'll go get you some of mine- we have the same brand, right?"_

" _Right. Just get to it. You know smoking calms me when I'm pissed," he growled. Sasayama gleefully fetched him the three packs of love potion spiked cigarettes._

" _To reimburse you, mate," he winked, and Kogami had accepted and immediately lit one up, and smoked. And then several more. Sasayama chose this ample opportunity to strike. "What's with you and Akane, then? You like her, don't you?"_

" _That's no concern of yours!"_

" _C'mon, Ko! Tell me! You're my best friend, ain't ya?!"_

" _Fine, maybe I do," Kogami's words were ever so slightly slurred. Sasayama didn't expect the potion to be that effective, but hey, it was working! "She's just the best person, y'know."_

_He'd made loads of sympathetic noises as Kogami went on and on about Akane, until he was sufficiently baked off love potion. In the end, Sasayama had to politely send him all-too-happily off to Akane's, and witness the events unfold from afar. For an entire week, he watched his two favourite nerds do lovey-dovey shit together, to the extent it sickened him slightly. But hey, whatever worked._

_After the purification ritual, he had kind of hoped Kogami would continue with Akane, but they both decided not to, since their emotions were complete and utter trainwrecks. Sasayama internally groaned. Time for phase two, he'd decided._

_For phase two, he'd need DNA, and a good, willing friend. So he spent another 5000 Gold trying to persuade Kagari to play along and to his credit, he did. Sasayma invited Kogami around for another stress-relieving smoke and a good complain about the love potion, and how he was going to kill the person who spiked his cigarettes (at which point, Sasayama started sweating rather nervously). When Kogami had left, Sasayama noticed some stray hairs from where they'd been pulled out by the chair, so he snatched them._

_After that, he had to infiltrate Palace Tsunemori and get Akane's DNA. That was easy enough- during their drink together, he excused himself to go to the toilet and stole into her room and took some loose hairs from Akane's comb. Then he performed the ritual and watched two very confused people around town the next day, with Kagari doing precisely what Sasayama had asked him too. It seemed like that had sparked some interest. Which was good. More than good. Excellent._

_He still had a strand of hair from both Kogami and Akane, so moved onto 'Operation Spawn', which sounded cooler in his head than it did out load. Ah, well. He thought that maybe if Kogami and Akane had an innocent symbol of their love, it might finally push them together after long last._

_He'd watched Kogami with Mayu and trying to help her, and generally acting like a father, and after that, watched Kogami, Akane and Mayu playing happy families. It warmed his heart, or what was left of it._

_His efforts had finally paid off, which is why, as Shinya Kogami and Akane Tsunemori told the other how they really felt, their matchmaker-cum-cupid was having a celebration alone in a tree._


End file.
